[105.01] The Potential for Weak Lensing Studies with the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey

The NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) will provide
accurate positions, magnitudes in three optical bands, and
shape parameters in these bands for about 106 galaxies
down to an R AB magnitude of 26 (5\sigma detection in a
2'' aperture). Because the NDWFS covers such a large area
of sky with deep imaging, it is potentially a very important
tool for gravitational lensing studies. We present the first
results of an investigation into the feasibility of using
this data for such a study. In particular, we characterize
the variation of the size and shape of the point-spread
function with respect to position in the images for each
filter for 5 36' by 36' subfields of the NDWFS, in order
to identify potential biases in the lensing data. We also
present an analysis of the star/galaxy correlation as a
means of testing for systematic effects in the lensing
analysis. We present a quantitative analysis of the effects
that need to be taken into account when using NDWFS data to
study gravitational lensing.

The NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey is being supported by the
National Optical Astronomy Observatory which is operated by
the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,
Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National
Science Foundation. Heather Groch's research was supported
by the NOAO/KPNO REU Program, funded by the National Science
Foundation.